Boogie for Wii

Boogie is a game that claims to be a singing and dancing game. However you can only do one or the other at a time - and the song list is fairly limited.

The game is sold with a USB microphone which plus into the back of the Wii system. This is necessary for the singing half of the game. Luckily, it can also be used with other USB systems (computers etc) so at least if you don't like the game you do still get a microphone out of the purchase.

You are expected to have a normal Wiimote with a nunchuck for the dancing portion of the game. However, take note that you can't sing and dance at the same time! It's one or the other.

The song selection is fairly limited, and only a select few songs are available when you start the game. You have to unlock the rest, often doing things you're just not fond of doing.

So, there you are, dancing to ABC or Brick House. By "dancing" I mean that you are swinging your Wiimote left and right. Literally. I suppose you could swing it up and down instead. Once you power up your charge bar, you can do a simple left-left-right-right style follow-the-leader to get an extra bonus. And that's pretty much it. Occasionally you use your nunchuck to walk over to a special token power-up.

The game has a fairly cool video editing system where you can record your dance moves and add in special video filters and change the camera angle. That part is neat - but the thing you are recording is so simple that it's really not worth it.

Why can't you sing and dance? Why can't you do fully body movements like you can in so many other dance games? I absolutely adore dance games. I adore singing games! This should have been the absolutely perfect fusion of the two. Instead I ended up sitting on the couch bored, swinging my controller left, right, left, right. Then up and down.

There are so many other brilliant games out there that involve dance and song. I can't really see why someone would go with this one, with its meager customization.

As a final issue, the songs are covers, and some are quite poorly done. So you don't even get the enjoyment of hearing the songs you love.